


Tied Together Are Our Heart Strings

by holbywolfe



Series: Tied Together Are Our Heart Strings [1]
Category: Holby City
Genre: Elinor Lives although no mention, F/F, Fluff and Smut, Kid Fic, Mild Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-29
Updated: 2017-04-29
Packaged: 2018-10-25 07:11:28
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,046
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10759317
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/holbywolfe/pseuds/holbywolfe
Summary: Because who doesn’t need/love a kidfic?? To allow for the storyline lets just say they’re in their 30’s/40’s, Cam is 3 and Charlotte 3 months. And Oh! what a surprise, they're married!Mild TW for slight reference to self-harm and internalised homophobia.





	Tied Together Are Our Heart Strings

Serena comes home to find her wife feeding their youngest, Charlotte, with her head buried in a book. Bernie puts the book down next to her and readjusts the infant so she can reach up to give Serena a kiss. Charlotte whimpers when her mouth unlatches from Bernie’s breast, and seeks out her nipple once again, sighing contentedly when she latches on.

“Hello little one,“ Serena leans down and coos to Charlotte, rubbing her cheek with the side of her finger “Did you have fun with mummy today?”

“Time of her life, is what she tells me, given the fact that she is three months old today,” Bernie says to her wife, earning herself a pat on the shoulder.

“Where’s Cam?” Serena asks, and her wife gestures with her head in the direction of the stairs, her hands occupied with the feeding baby on her chest.

“I put him down for a nap a few hours ago, if you wake him up I’ll make a start on dinner once Charlotte’s done,” Bernie says. Serena kisses her wife on the forehead and strokes her cheek, then makes her way up the stairs to check on their eldest.

She walks into Cameron’s room to find the three year old on the floor ‘constructing’ a building using his new Duplo.

“Mumma!” he shouts, abandoning his creation and launching himself at Serena.

“Hello sweetie, how long have you been awake, hmm?”

“I wanted build a hopsital!” Cam says excitedly. Serena chuckles and reaches out to hold her sons’ hand, leading him out of his bedroom.

“Mummy’s going to make dinner soon, so you and me can build some more with Charlie, how does that sound?” Cam nods and runs to the cupboard to get more of his Duplo.

Bernie has just finished feeding Charlotte when Serena walks into the living room, so she walks round the armchair and picks the infant out of the blonde’s arms.

“You happy with the bolognaise from the freezer?” Bernie asks as she gets up and pulls her shirt back into place, Serena smirks when she notices the lack of bra, and Bernie makes her way into the kitchen to defrost their dinner.

Serena sits down on the rug and rests Charlotte on her crossed legs, tickling her stomach and cooing to the infant. Cam comes in and plonks himself and his Duplo down on the carpet, handing pieces to Serena so they can build together.  
After they’ve built the first few floors of Cam’s ‘hopsital’, as he calls it, Serena picks up Charlotte and hugs her to her chest as she gets up off the floor.

“I’m just going to check on Mummy okay?” she reasons with the toddler as she walks out the living room and into the kitchen.

Bernie looks over at her as she walks in, and smiles at the sight of her wife and baby daughter before going back to stirring the pasta into the sauce.

“Everything on track? Sorry I had to work today I would have made something so you didn’t have to-”

“Its okay Serena, I’m nursing, not paralysed I can manage to heat up some frozen pasta by myself,” Bernie interrupts, maybe with a slightly harsher tone than she intended. She sees the immediate reaction on Serena’s face and drops the wooden spoon in the bowl and walks over to her wife.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean for it to come out like that,” the blonde says, placing her hands on Serena’s hips.

“It’s okay, I’ll get plates, hmm?” Bernie nods in response and Serena plants a reassuring kiss on her wife’s lips before moving to the cupboard.

They eat dinner at the too-big-for-three dining table, Bernie bouncing Charlotte in her lap as she eats. Once they are finished, Serena collects up the dishes and takes them into the kitchen to do the washing up, Cameron following close behind.

“I help mumma!” He says as he pulls out his stool and climbs on, ready to play with the bubbles from the washing up liquid. Serena chuckles and pats her son on the head, standing next to him as she waits for the sink to fill with water.

Bernie places Charlotte in her bouncer swing and smiles at the sounds of laughter coming from the rest of her family in the kitchen. She walks in and sees that her son has covered her wife in bubbles, the dirty dishes forgotten, and her wife is placing little clusters of bubbles in Cameron’s hair as the three year old giggles hysterically.

“Charlotte’s asleep, want me to do the dishes without him while _you_ shower?” Bernie says, squinting at her son to accentuate her point.

“Thank you,” the brunette says with a grateful smile, then walks up to her wife and whispers “You could always help me once you’re done here?”

“Help you?” Bernie murmurs back, and Serena saunters off leaving Bernie slightly flushed and very aroused indeed.

By the time Bernie has finished the dishes the shower is off, she can tell Serena has extended her regular five-minute-shower time limit a bit, in the hope that Bernie will join her. She tells Cam to behave himself for a few minutes while she goes upstairs. When she gets to their bedroom she leans against the doorframe for a moment, taking in the view of her wife from behind before Serena notices.

Serena had always been confident about her body, walking around the house naked from the moment they’d first slept together. Bernie had been the insecure one, even before she joined the army she had been hesitant in showing off her lanky frame; terrified the brunette she was head-over-heels in love with would think less of her, smaller breasts and feint scars decorating her upper thighs. They rarely talk about those scars, Bernie had told her once they were the product of years of internalised homophobia and self-hatred, and Serena had held her tight as she had cried into her shoulder “So much for a romantic first time” Bernie had said, wiping her nose and pulling Serena closer. They still don’t talk about them now, Serena just kisses them without a second thought, when she is near the area, which in fairness is quite often.  
Serena adds the new scars that Bernie acquires while on tour to her list of must-kiss-during-sex places.

Even though they have been together just over eight years, Bernie still shivers when she sees Serena naked, and this time, when Serena turns round to look at her wife standing in the door Bernie tears up, thinking of everything Serena has done for her, and everything Serena will no doubt continue to do. Serena has a worried expression on her face at the sight of Bernie’s glassy eyes, and Bernie just shakes her head, tells Serena that she'll tell her later. Serena nods and turns around for Bernie to clasp her bra, a ritual they developed after Bernie did it once when they were in a rush to get dressed, having heard Adrienne coming up the stairs one morning, both still naked from the night before. Bernie chuckles and clasps it, then pats Serena’s bum on her way back down to their children.

Cam is sitting on the floor next to Charlotte’s bouncer tickling her feet when Bernie comes in.

“What are you up to mister? Come on, up you come its time for bed,” she says, reaching down to grasp the toddlers hand, then picks him up and puts him on her shoulders. He squeals with excitement, which alerts Serena, and she comes down the stairs with a disapproving look on her face.

“He’s supposed to be calm Bernie, unless you want him to be up all night,” she says, and how can Bernie be expected to argue with such a beautiful woman, so she swings Cam down so he rests on her hip, brings him over to Serena who plants a kiss on his head and says goodnight, then takes him up the stairs for his bedtime story.

When Bernie is home from tours, they take turns reading to Cameron, unless Serena is on a late shift. Cam wiggles to get out of Bernie’s rip and bounds across the room to his bookcase, picking out his favourite. Bernie chuckles at his choice of Where’s Wally? And reasons with him that that isn’t a reading book, and they can find Wally tomorrow if he picks a proper book now. His second choice is Green Eggs and Ham and Bernie nods at him as he clambers into bed and makes a space in the sea of cuddly toys for his mum to sit next to him.

_“That Sam-I-am! That Sam-I-am! I do not like that Sam-I-am!”_ Bernie says in an exasperated tone,

_“Do you like green eggs and ham?”_ she asks Cam as she turns the page and points to the green food. _“I do not like them, Sam-I-am. I do not like green eggs and ham.”_

Serena comes up the stairs with Charlotte in her arms to find Bernie closing the door to Cam’s room as quietly as she can. Bernie nods at her and follows her into the nursery next to their bedroom. Serena offers the infant to Bernie, but the blonde shakes her head and gestures to the Moses basket.

“I’ll feed her after, it’s still early,” she says in explanation.

“After?” Serena asks, and Bernie nods with a familiar glint in her eye.

They barely make it through the door to their bedroom before Serena is shucking her pyjama shirt and pressing Bernie against the door, their lips meeting in a desperate kiss. Serena pushes them both towards the bed and falls on top of Bernie, straddling her. She plants kisses to Bernie's neck, sucking lightly at some of the faded scars painting her chest. She continues her assault on Bernie's neck, and then moves down to nibble at Bernie’s breasts, palming them gently as she knows Bernie’s nipples are sensitive from feeding.

“Please, Serena,” Bernie says, arching her back and running her fingers through Serena’s hair.  
Oblivious to her wife’s pleas, Serena continues teasing her until she feels herself being flipped so Bernie is on top, grinding herself down onto Serena's thigh and groaning.  
Serena tries to put up a fight, attempting to push Bernie back under her.  
The blonde moans from above her, throwing her head back as she speeds up her grinding. Serena moves her right hand down between them and coaxes Bernie off of her thigh so she can enter her. Serena positions her hand so that every time Bernie trusts down, the back of her hand grazes her own clit, which given the situation, wouldn't take long to bring her own orgasm about.

During sex, they are a well-oiled machine; they know by now what works for them, and what doesn’t. That’s not to say they don’t have any fun, because sometimes they experiment with other ways, positions, toys. But tonight isn’t about experimenting, tonight, now, is about pleasure.

“Fuck… Fu… Ser… Mor…” a string of expletives and half words flow from Bernie's mouth, Serena knows she wont last much longer so she removes her fingers, leaving her wife feeling considerably empty.

“Please, Serena,” Bernie, desperate for the release almost wails, forgetting for a few moments that there are other people in the house. Serena smiles at her, ushering her to lie down so she can position herself between Bernie’s legs.  
Serena starts slow, flicking her tongue around Bernie's clit and occasionally over it, causing a whimper each time. She adds her two fingers back, curling them in towards her and Bernie bucks her hips off the bed, letting out a ragged breath. Serena continues her assault on her clit, taking her mouth off and thumbing the nub.

“Serena, Serena I'm so close,” Bernie barely manages to say. Serena responds by replacing her mouth and humming onto her clit, feeling Bernie's legs shake around her, wetness coating her fingers. She continues until the last waves of Bernie's orgasm have died out, then removes her fingers and licks them clean. Bernie chuckles and throws an arm over her face, waiting for Serena to sidle up the bed next to her.

“If Cam wakes up it’s your fault,” Bernie finally breathes out, looking over at her wife who’s now pouting at her.

“I don’t see how, you were the one being loud, as always.” She punctuates with pokes to Bernie’s chest.

“Yeah well it was your fault for making me be loud,” Bernie counters, earning a chuckle from the brunette who has tucked herself into Bernie’s side.

“I can hear Charlotte fussing, I’ll go get her, back in a sec,” Bernie says after a while, and throws on her robe before going into their daughters nursery. Serena sits up in bed against the headboard and picks up her book from the bedside table. She smiles up at her wife and daughter when Bernie comes in, and pulls the covers back so Bernie can sit up while she breastfeeds. Serena hands her the U-shaped pillow to put behind her back, and Bernie smiles gratefully, the smile not quite reaching her eyes.

“What’s on your mind, love?” Serena says, putting her book down and turning to the side to face her wife.

“I wanted to tell you that I’ve put in my resignation, and that they’ve accepted it, though not too gracefully,” she quietly says, looking up at Serena with a worried expression on her face. When Serena just stares back at her she continues “I want to stay with you, and the kids, and I know we always said that we wanted three children and I wanted to be around for that if you wanted to carry it, or if you wanted me to,” she rambles, noticing tears now streaming down Serena’s face.  
She turns her head away and mumbles an apology into the darkness, _how could she have gotten this so wrong_. Serena’s voice drags her out of her self-pitying thoughts, well rather, Serena’s hands drag her out, unlatching Charlotte from Bernie’s nipple and replacing it with her little finger, quickly laying their daughter down on the bed in between them, then pulling at Bernie’s body with her free hand and crashing their lips together. _“Thank you, thank you, I love you,”_ She whispers against her wife’s lips, before the previously silent tears turn into loud sobs, and she has to pull away so she doesn’t cover Bernie in tears and snot. Bernie picks up Charlotte, who has now started wailing at the loss of Bernie’s breast and the loud noise of Serena crying, and latches her back on, her own tears now mingling with the remainder of Serena’s on her face. The room is filled with Serena’s sobs and then Cam bursts through the door, looking terrified at Serena’s snotty cries.

“What happen to mumma?” he asks, looking at Bernie. Bernie just smiles through her tears and pats the bed next to her, indicating for her son to climb up. She helps lift him the last little bit, and he goes and pats Serena’s knee comfortingly.

“Mummy’s staying at home now, forever,” she tells Cameron, eliciting another wave of sobs from her wife, and suddenly all of them are crying and even Charlotte’s cries are for once welcome.

Bernie wakes up with three of them in the bed, Cameron squished between her and Serena, and Charlotte gurgling happily from her basket next to the bed. She remembers last night fondly, her and Serena talking about another baby while their eldest slept between them. Serena had revealed to Bernie that she had already started a cycle of IVF close to ten weeks ago, and was going to surprise her with a oh-my-god-you’ve-swallowed-a-planet sized belly when Bernie returned from her next tour, Bernie had sobbed then, almost but not quite as violently as Serena’s only minutes before. She now had an explanation for Serena claiming to be ‘sick’ the past few months. She’d like to tell herself that she knew something different about her wife.

 

~

  
Bernie carefully extracts herself from the queen bed, careful not to wake her sleeping family, picks up Charlotte and coos at her quietly. She goes downstairs to make Serena a morning coffee, and get some pancake batter ready for when they wake up. Bernie may not be the best cook, but Saturday morning pancakes are her ‘thing’. She puts the batter in the fridge once she’s done, and walks back up the stairs with a baby in one hand and a coffee for her wife in the other. Serena and Cameron are having an animated conversation when she walks in, and she smiles sympathetically at her wife when she sees that her eyes are still raw from last nights’ crying. Serena accepts the coffee graciously and Bernie sits down on her side of the bed and starts to feed Charlotte.

After pancakes, they decide on a plan for the day. Bernie runs some errands while Serena takes Cam and Charlotte to the park, kissing her wife goodbye as they get into their respective cars. She abandons the shopping in her impractically tiny sports car and joins her wife and children on the grass. Serena hands Charlotte to her and Bernie pulls out a breast to feed their daughter. Serena leans over and presses a chaste kiss to her lips before getting up and walking over to their son to help him on the play equipment.

Bernie watches her perfect little family from her place on the grass; watches Serena subconsciously bring a hand to her ever-so-slightly growing belly while playing with their son and Bernie positively beams at the sight. She thinks about their family, plus the addition of another baby. Charlotte has so far been an easy baby, not overly fussy and content to sleep through most of the night. Bernie finds that she almost looks forward to sleepless nights, if it means she gets to she her wife, and possibly the most beautiful person on earth, pregnant and nursing a beautiful addition to the family.  
It’s in that moment that Bernie is sure she made the right choice. Maybe not in others, but in this world she vows to choose her family, every time.

**Author's Note:**

> If anyone has any requests from this universe feel free to drop them in the comments!


End file.
